Parents and youth with learning disabilities: perceptions of relationships and communication

The study examined perceptions of family relationships and communication in 52 families who have an adolescent child diagnosed with learning disabilities (LD) with a matched group of 52 families who have a child without LD. Parents and youth completed a self-reported Family Relations and Communication Scales assessment. Findings revealed parents perceived their child as either overinvolved or underinvolved with their parents and not sharing the same values and norms as their parents. Findings indicated that parents of youth with and without LD share similar perceptions of both the openness and problematic aspects of family communication. Youth with and without LD reported higher levels of problematic maternal involvement than perceived by the mothers; youth without LD rated their mothers' affective expression higher than reported by their mothers; both groups of youth perceived their mothers' and their fathers' communication as less open and more problematic than reported by their parents.     

REACTIONS OF SOME AUSTRALIAN MOTHERS TO THE BIRTH OF THEIR MENTALLY HANDICAPPED CHILD

A small sample of Australian mothers who had given birth to mentally retarded children were studied with respect to their attitudes upon discovery that the child was retarded. A variety of reactions ranging from self pity to overwhelming pity for the child were noted and the implications for professional parental counselling considered.     

Effects of Mexican Immigrant Parents’ Daily Workplace Discrimination on Child Behavior and Family Functioning

This study investigated Mexican immigrant parents’ reports of perceived workplace discrimination and their children's behavior, parents’ moods, and parent–child interactions. Parents of one hundred and thirty‐eight 3‐ to 5‐year‐old children were asked to complete one survey daily for 2 weeks (N = 1,592 days). On days when fathers perceived discrimination, fathers and mothers reported more externalizing child behaviors, and mothers reported fewer positive child behaviors. When mothers perceived discrimination, they reported more externalizing child behaviors; fathers reported more internalizing child behaviors. Parents reported worse mood on days with perceived discrimination. Perceived discrimination was not strongly related to parent–child interactions. For fathers, but less so for mothers, those whose psychological acculturation indicated separation had more negative relations between daily perceived workplace discrimination and child and family outcomes.     

Comparing maltreating fathers and mothers in terms of personal distress, interpersonal functioning, and perceptions of family climate

OBJECTIVE: This study compared perceptions of personal distress, interpersonal and marital problems, and aspects of family climate of maltreating fathers and mothers. METHODS: Subjects were 2841 offenders (1918 of whom were fathers or father-figures) who were identified and treated by the USAF Family Advocacy Program between 1988 and 1996. Independent variables for the analysis were parent sex (mother vs. father) as well as type and severity of maltreatment, history of repeat offenses, and history of abuse in childhood. RESULTS: Maltreating mothers were more distressed and reported more problems from individuals outside the family than maltreating fathers; fathers reported more rigid expectations for children, less cohesive families, and less organized families than did maltreating mothers. Regardless of parental sex, victimization in the family of origin was related to distress and unhappiness. Similarly, both victimization in the family of origin and history of repeated offenses were powerful predictors of a more negative family climate regardless of the offending parent's sex. No significant statistical interactions between parental sex and other independent variables were found when predicting personal and interpersonal distress, marital problems, or family climate. CONCLUSIONS: Studies rarely examine maltreating fathers except in the context of sexual abuse. Fewer still compare maltreating mothers and fathers. This study identified meaningful, though generally small, differences between maltreating mothers and fathers. Patterns suggest that maltreating mothers may tend to cope more poorly with personal distress, whereas maltreating fathers tend to operate in a family climate that is both distant and rigid, while holding inappropriate expectations for children's behavior. The absence of interactions between parental sex and the other independent variables included in the analysis indicate that these patterns do not vary by the history of victimization in the family of origin, the type or severity of child maltreatment, or the history of prior maltreatment in the family.     

The Impact of Two- and Three-Generational Black Family Structure on Perceived Family Climate

This study examined the effect of black family structure on the perceived social climate as measured by the Family Environment Scale. The 64 black families were selected to fill the four cells of a 2 × 2 factorial design of 1- versus 2-parent black families by grandmother residing in the home of the family versus living 10 or more miles away. The family climate was significantly different among the four family structures and between this sample and the normative sample of Moos and his associates. No significant differences were found among the family structures on their Family Incongruence scores. The subscale scores of this black sample were similar to the scores of other black and partly black samples. These results suggest that black families are not a homogeneous group, but rather different black family structures are associated with different family climates. Further research is needed to understand the impact family climate has on child-rearing practices and child outcomes within these diverse family structures.     

Child abuse by mothers' boyfriends: why the overrepresentation?

This study showed that although mothers' boyfriends perform relatively little child care, they are responsible for substantially more child abuse than other nonparental caregivers. Using data drawn from interviews with single mothers and records of child abuse substantiated through child protection investigation, mothers' boyfriends' overrepresentation in child abuse was traced to five conditions: (a) the location of their child care in single parent families; (b) their gender; (c) the absence of genetic relationship between mothers' boyfriends and their partner's children; (d) mothers' boyfriends' perceived illegitimacy as caregivers and family members; and (e) mothers' boyfriends' rivalry with their partner's children. The limitations of these findings and implications for future research are discussed.     

Moral and civic responsibility and the commercialization of higher education

Abstract

This paper examines religious affiliation and commitment of teenagers as a function of the quality of mother‐child interaction and the mothers’ religious commitment, as an illustration of the principle that transmission of parental norms and values to their children is facilitated or inhibited by the quality of their interaction. We expected that in cases where mother‐child interaction was good, parents would be better able to impose their own values upon their children, resulting in a lower disaffiliation and higher religious commitment in high quality of family‐interaction families. This expectation was tested using data from 223 British adolescent‐mother pairs, by means of logistic and ordinary regression analysis. The results largely supported the hypotheses, exemplifying how mothers in their role of moral agents may profit from good mother‐child relationships.     

Examining the Relation of Parenting to Children's Coping with Everyday Stress

The relation between parenting and the coping styles of children in response to everyday stress was investigated. 60 children, 9–10 years old, and their mothers participated. Children and mothers described how they responded to stressful episodes the child had experienced within the past 2 months. Mothers completed questionnaires that assessed a variety of parenting dimensions (e.g., nurturance, directiveness, organization). Results indicated that ( a ) the aspects of child coping studied (e.g., perceived effectiveness, variety of coping strategies) were relatively independent, ( b ) children from families with high levels of maternal support and relatively low levels of family structure used the greatest variety of coping strategies, ( c ) children of supportive mothers used the greatest number of avoidant strategies (but only in uncontrollable situations), and ( d ) children from families with high levels of parental structure used fewer aggressive coping strategies.     

A comparison of Hispanic and African-American sexually abused girls and their families.

OBJECTIVE: To study the differential effects of sexual abuse on Hispanic (HN) and African-American (AA) girls. METHOD: Sexually abused girls and their caretakers (N = 159), of which 52% (n = 82) were AA (mean age 9.8 years, SD = 3.4, R = 6-17) and 48% (n = 77) were HN (mean age 10.1 years, SD = 3.8, R = 6-18), were included in the study. The mother/caretaker was administered a demographic form, the Achenbach's Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), and the Family Assessment Measure (FAM-P). The child completed the FAM-C and the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC). The clinician completed the Parental Reaction to Incest Disclosure Scale (PRIDS). RESULTS: HN girls were found to have a greater number of sexually abusive episodes and waited longer to disclose their abuse while AA girls were more likely to have experienced vaginal penetration. The perpetrators of HN girls were older and more likely to be fathers or stepfathers. The mothers/ caretakers of HN girls perceived their children as having significantly more aggressive behavior, anxiety/depression, somatic complaints, internalizing and externalizing behaviors, and had a higher total score on the CBCL than did AA girls. The HN girls were more likely to see their family as dysfunctional with confusion regarding family values and rules. HN mothers/caretakers perceived their families as more conflicted regarding adaptability and family controls. CONCLUSIONS: HN girls experienced more emotional and behavioral problems, and both HN girls and their mothers/caretakers perceived their families as more disturbed and dysfunctional.     

中、重度智障儿童生活适应能力的生态化教育模式初探

中、重度智力落后儿童的生活适应能力,除了受智力影响外,更与环境产生着交互作用。通过环境影响与教育介入,适应能力是可以得到改善与提高的。学校、家庭、社区是智力落后儿童生活的三个主要生态环境。环境生态课程是弱智教育理想的教育模式。本论文以此课程理论为基础,充分开发学校、家庭和社区的潜能,构建学校、家庭和社区相互支持的生态化教育培养模式,提高智力落后儿童的生活适应能力。     

Mothering in Families With and Without a Child with Disability

This paper describes some features of a study which compares and contrasts mothers’ perceptions of their family life in three different family environments, those without a child with disability and those families who live with a child with an intellectual or physical disability. All families have children in the middle childhood period allowing the mothers to reflect on earlier experiences and changes in their family life. Mothers’ psychological characteristics are explored in terms of the coping resources they utilise when meeting stressful life situations in their family and how their personal resilience and vulnerability is related to these individual coping resources.     

培智教育学校办学情况调查与建议

培智教育是我国特殊教育的重要组成部分。通过调查显示,目前我国培智教育学校办学形式多样但规模较小,招生出现多种类型残疾学生同在一所学校的情况。培智教育学校的办学困难既有办学条件方面的也有家庭经济状况的因素。发展培智学校教育有利于教育体制与体系的现代化,因此,应对培智教育学校性质进行界定,进一步完善我国的相关法规和政策;加强对培智教育学校的支持、管理与督导,提高培智教育的规模效益,提高教育管理者依法治教的意识及对培智教育的认识;重视对培智学校义务教育新课程的研究,加强对培智教育本质问题的探讨,以逐步构建培智教育的理论,推动我国特殊教育事业的发展。     

Parenting and the Adjustment of Children Born to Gay Fathers Through Surrogacy

Findings are presented on a study of 40 gay father families created through surrogacy and a comparison group of 55 lesbian mother families created through donor insemination with a child aged 3–9 years. Standardized interview, observational and questionnaire measures of stigmatization, quality of parent–child relationships, and children's adjustment were administered to parents, children, and teachers. Children in both family types showed high levels of adjustment with lower levels of children's internalizing problems reported by gay fathers. Irrespective of family type, children whose parents perceived greater stigmatization and children who experienced higher levels of negative parenting showed higher levels of parent‐reported externalizing problems. The findings contribute to theoretical understanding of the role of family structure and family processes in child adjustment.     

矫正弱智儿童攻击性行为的案例

智力落后儿童由于大脑器官损伤、不良环境和不合理的教育,导致他们产生种种不良行为。弱智儿童的攻击性行为就是一种比较常见的不良行为,这种行为极大的影响了弱智儿童的健康成长。为了促进弱智儿童健康发展。增进他们的学业行为。实现每个弱智儿童都能快乐成长,笔者在系统分析的基础上。采用间歇强化法等措施对弱智儿童的攻击性行为进行了矫正。措施得当,成效显著。     

Coparenting Among Lesbian,Gay, and Heterosexual Couples: Associations With Adopted Children's Outcomes

Coparenting is associated with child behavior in families with heterosexual parents, but less is known about coparenting among lesbian‐ and gay‐parent families. Associations were studied among self‐reported divisions of labor, coparenting observations, and child adjustment (M_age = 3 years) among 104 adoptive families headed by lesbian, gay, or heterosexual couples. Lesbian and gay couples reported sharing child care, whereas heterosexual couples reported specialization (i.e., mothers did more child care than fathers). Observations confirmed this pattern—lesbian and gay parents participated more equally than heterosexual parents during family interaction. Lesbian couples showed the most supportive and least undermining behavior, whereas gay couples showed the least supportive behavior, and heterosexual couples the most undermining behavior. Overall, supportive coparenting was associated with better child adjustment.     

Behaviour Problems in the Siblings of Children With Down Syndrome: associations with family responsibilities and parental stress

Forty‐five families with a child with Down syndrome and 88 comparison families provided information about their children's behaviour problems and their involvement in household tasks. In addition, parental stress was measured using the Parenting domain of the Parenting Stress Index (Abidin, 1990). There were no differences between the siblings of a child with Down syndrome and comparison children on mothers’ or fathers’ reports of problem behaviour. Siblings of a child with Down syndrome also did not differ in their contribution to family tasks, however, for the brothers of a child with Down syndrome there were significant negative correlations between household tasks and behaviour problems on fathers’ report. Parents of a child with Down syndrome reported more stress than comparison parents and stress was related to reports of problem behaviour for some parent groups.     

A Longitudinal Analysis of Well‐Being of Ghanaian Children in Transnational Families

This study is the first to employ panel data to examine well‐being outcomes—self‐rated health, happiness, life satisfaction, and school enjoyment—of children in transnational families in an African context. It analyzes data collected in 2013, 2014, and 2015 from secondary schoolchildren and youth (ages 12–21) in Ghana (N = 741). Results indicate that children with fathers, mothers, or both parents away and those cared for by a parent, a family, or a nonfamily member are equally or more likely to have higher levels of well‐being as children in nonmigrant families. Yet, there are certain risk factors—being a female, living in a family affected by divorce or by a change in caregiver while parents migrate—that may decrease child well‐being.     

Rating of personality of normally-developing and mentally disabled children and the mothers’ beliefs about their child’s development

The purpose of this paper focuses on mothers’ beliefs about their child’s personality and development (stability or change and causal attributions) and how these beliefs can be affected by mothers’ experience (being a mother of a six or of a twelve-year-old child and being a mother of a normally-developing or of a mentally disabled child). The scales were completed by several samples of mothers. The effect of the temporal orientation (retrospective or perspective) was also considered. The results show that the mothers rate their child with an optimistic bias while the mothers of disabled children are less positive than those of the broad-ranging sample. The results are also in accordance with the decrease of positiveness as the child grows. Finally, the optimistic bias differs in function of the temporal orientation for the mothers of normally-developing children and for the mothers of mentally disabled children. The retrospective change is also overestimated with regard to the prospective one in the broad-ranging sample.     

Sexuality,marriage and parenthood of mentally retarded people

Issues relating to sexuality, marriage, and parenthood of mentally retarded people are discussed in the context of normalization. Negative attitudes towards the manifestation of sexuality by mentally retarded people are considered, along with studies which demonstrate that many such individuals are capable of meaning ful sexual behavior, and meaningful interpersonal relationships that may culminate in marriage and child rearing. It is urged that counselors have an important role in assisting mentally retarded individuals attain their rights to sexual activity, marriage, and parenthood. Attention is drawn to teaching techniques for use in sex education programs for mentally retarded people, and examples are presented of programs which deal with psycho-sexual development, marriage, parenthood, and sexual problems and dysfunctions.     

Families with children conceived by donor insemination: a follow-up at age twelve

Growing public awareness of the use of donor insemination (DI) to enable infertile couples to become parents has been accompanied by increasing concern regarding the potentially negative consequences for family relationships and child development. Findings are presented from a prospective study of the quality of parenting and psychological adjustment of DI children at age 12. Thirty-seven DI families, 49 adoptive families, and 91 families with a naturally conceived child were compared on standardized interview and questionnaire measures administered to mothers, fathers, children, and teachers. The differences between DI families and the other family types reflected greater expressive warmth of DI mothers toward their children and less involvement in the discipline of their children by DI fathers. The DI children were well adjusted in terms of their social and emotional development. The findings are discussed with respect to the secrecy surrounding DI and the imbalance in genetic relatedness between the parents and the child.